These last few weeks, one of the biggest storylines around Tottenham Hotspur has been the status of superstar forward Son Heung-min, who had been shut down with a foot injury since early April after the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Son had been struggling for form for quite some time, and it appeared that him playing through the pain of a foot injury in order to try and help Tottenham was the main culprit. The South Korean superstar had actually started the season reasonably well for Spurs, but his form had fallen off a cliff in the second half of the campaign, potentially because of this injury.
He returned to the Tottenham squad and got about 32 minutes of pain-free action about a week ago against Crystal Palace in a 2-0 loss. Then on Friday, just days before the Europa League Final against Manchester United on May 21, Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou upgraded Son's responsibilty to starting status.
Ange Postecoglou revealed the key to Son Heung min's status
Son was able to play 74 minutes without incident, and although this match was yet another poor 2-0 loss for Tottenham, the positive of having a healthy Son for almost a full start before the Europa League Final was bigger than a, truthfully, meaningless defeat in an already lost season.
Speaking after the game, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold, Postecoglou essentially confirmed that Son is ready to start against Manchester United this coming Wednesday night in Bilbao, “Well, he’s ready and he’s available. He started today. They’re all ready to start, so I think him playing 70-75 minutes today was important."
Even though this has clearly been a down year for Son, he's still a crucial player for Tottenham, especially in a game of this magnitude against Manchester United with both the club's season and overall trajectory on the line. Son can win his first major trophy and put an exclamation mark on his legendary Tottenham career by hoisting the Europa League title to save the club's worst-ever Premier League campaign.
Son once carried Tottenham to a Champions League Final without Harry Kane by his side, and even though he's not quite the same player at 32, he is still Tottenham's most productive attacking player in the final third with seven goals and nine assists in the Premier League this season. Without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Lucas Bergvall available for the Final, those goal contributions are that much more important.
So barring an unexpected setback, pencil Son Heung-min in your Tottenham starting lineups vs. Manchester United. By getting 74 minutes of action against Aston Villa after his 32 vs. Crystal Palace, he is ready to be out the there and give it his all for the club he loves.